


The Outstretched Hand of A Lover

by joshlyman



Category: & Juliet - Martin/West Read
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Other, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:55:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26762446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshlyman/pseuds/joshlyman
Summary: There is a beautiful statue of a young man in the middle of Paris. Rumor has it that the statue will turn human when his soulmate holds his outstretched hand. Since the statue first appeared in the Jardin des Tuileries, tourists and locals alike have taken their photos with the man, who has been nicknamed “The Lover”.  What happens when Juliet, May, and April visit the statue? Will “The Lover” finally be freed by his soulmate? Or will he continue to be trapped in stone forever?François/May fic inspired by a prompt from https://writing-prompt-s.tumblr.com/
Relationships: Francois/May (& Juliet)
Kudos: 4





	The Outstretched Hand of A Lover

It had been several days since Juliet had convinced May, April, and Angelique to come to Paris with her. She had just broken up with Romeo and wanted to get away from her parents who were trying to set her up with some man named Lord Shaftesbury in London. To quote Juliet, “Who the hell still uses fancy titles like that and isn’t some racist homophobe?” So she’d packed a rucksack and dragged her friends to France. Not that May was complaining - They’d always wanted to visit the country. The group was staying in an apartment with one of Angelique’s old “friends”, Lance, who was almost definitely a former lover. 

Today, May had suggested that they visit the Louvre, the famous art museum home to works of art like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. April and Juliet had readily agreed while Angelique had taken a rain check, choosing to stay at the apartment with Lance. But May hadn’t chosen the Louvre just for the statues inside - They were fascinated by the legend of the statue known as “The Lover” in the gardens just outside the museum. The story of the man turned into stone was famous all over Europe and was even told as a fairytale to children before bedtime. Call them a hopeless romantic, but a small part of May still believed that the man would be brought back to life by his soulmate’s touch.

The statue stood out from the others in the garden, particularly because it actually had clothes, unlike the other naked muses.  
“He’s beautiful,” Juliet whispered and May nodded in silent agreement. “The Lover” was dressed in a vest decorated with the French fleur-de-lis design, and May noticed a necklace with the same design dangling on his chest. There was a stray curl hanging on his forehead that May wanted to push back for some reason.  
“Okay,” April clapped her hands together, pulling May out of the spell that they had been trapped in for a moment, “let’s get some photos and hold some hands!”  
“I’ll go first!” Juliet rushed over to the pedestal. “Wouldn’t it be great if he ended up being my soulmate? Take that, Romeo!” She took the statue’s hand and turned to face her friends, smiling at April’s camera. The statue remained solid marble as Juliet gave the camera a few different poses, even kissing the man’s cheek.  
“Well, it was worth a try!” She proclaimed cheerily before hopping off the pedestal and grabbing the camera to take a look at the results. “Gorgeous pictures, thanks, girl!”  
“No problem. May, would you mind?” April handed her camera over to May, who took it and started taking pictures as April clambered onto the pedestal, curtsying to the statue.  
“Why are you curtsying? It’s not like he can see you!”  
“Oh shush Juliet, I’m trying to be polite! We’re using this poor man for likes, might as well show him some respect.”  
“She does have a point, you know,” May murmured and Juliet elbowed them, “Hey, watch the camera!”  
“Can you two stop arguing so May can take my picture? Thank you!” April grabbed the statue’s hand and looked into its eyes for a few moments before letting go. “It’s been a pleasure, sir.”  
“Okay May, your turn!”  
“Oh come on, do I have to?”  
“Yes!” April and Juliet both yelled at the same time, Juliet pushing her friend toward the statue while April got her camera set up. 

May slowly made their way up to the pedestal, taking a step up until they were standing in front of the marble. May looked down at the statue’s face, noting that they were a few inches taller than ‘The Lover’, who was somehow even more beautiful up close. They gazed into the statue’s eyes, noting the incredible detail.  
“Stop ogling and hold his hand already!” Juliet called out, causing some French people wandering around the gardens to stop and glare at them. “Oh, ‘dee sole’!”  
“It’s désolé.”  
“That’s what I said! Whatever, aren’t you supposed to be taking photos of our lovely May?”  
“Sorry May, get to hand holding!” 

May closed their eyes and slowly extended their hand until they felt a connection with cold stone. They stood for a moment in silence, imagining the statue turning into their true love, their soulmate. For a second, it almost felt as if the marble was warmer than before, and May opened their eyes. Wait a moment, was the statute changing color? May heard the girls gasping and stared in shock as the hand in theirs grew warmer and the marble went soft. Instead of holding hands with a marble statue, May was now holding an entire person of flesh and blood in their arms, trying to keep both of them from falling off of the former statue’s pedestal.  
“Ah, putain!” The man let out a curse as he tried to find his balance, grabbing onto May’s shoulder.  
“Oh my God!” Juliet was yelling out and the people around them had noticed that the statue was no longer on its pedestal. But May was only focused on the man in front of them. He somehow looked younger once he was no longer marble, a softness to his face that had not been there before. May felt themself blushing as their eyes traveled down, taking in the details of the man’s outfit, a gorgeous combination of gold and blue that complimented his brown eyes. 

“Allô?”  
“Um, hi?” May murmured, still staring at the boy in shock. “Oh wait, you probably just know French, don’t you . . . umm . . . comment vous appelez-vous?”  
“François DuBois, Monsieur. Mais pardonnez-moi, où sommes-nous? Que s'est-il passé?”  
“Uhhhh, désolé, je ne comprends pas, mais je m'appelle May. Je ne parle pas beaucoup français.”  
“Mais tout a l'air si différent, vos vêtements sont étranges et quelle est cette chose que la femme tient?” The boy continued to ramble in French, gesturing toward April’s camera and then looking back at May, fear and confusion in his eyes. May looked down and realized that their hands were still intertwined and gave François’s hand a small squeeze.  
“Hey, Angelique?” Juliet was on her phone, eyes still not leaving Francois and May. “You know that statue near the museum that was looking for a soulmate? Well, we need you to speak some French. Turns out May here is Frankie’s soulmate and now we got some translation issues.”  
“WHAT?!?”


End file.
